Candidate summary file description
The candidate summary file contains summary financial information about each candidate registered with the FEC or appearing on an official state ballot for House, Senate or President. This information is available for the current election and for historical elections starting with the 2008 election. Special elections for House and Senate are also included.
Committees provide a summary of their financial activity in each filing. These summaries are combined for the full two year period to create the candidate summary file. A candidate’s financial totals include their principal campaign committee and other committees authorized to raise money on their behalf. The totals cover from January 1 of the year before the election through the most recent report submitted by the committees.
Data timing
The financial information is updated nightly based on electronic reports received or paper reports that have been computerized through 7 pm the previous day.
During the primary election season, the period covered may be different for candidates in different states, depending on their primary dates.
Candidate summary file format
| Column name | Field name | Data type | Description | Range | Description | Example data |
| Link_Image | Link to candidate profile page | URl | Link to financial information and filings made directly by the candidate - mainly statements of candidacy for each election | https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/P00000000/ | ||
| Cand_Name | Candidate name | Character | Name of candidate | Max 90 characters | Martha Washington | |
| Cand_Id | Candidate ID | Character | 9 characters | First character indicates office sought - H=House, S=Senate, P=Presidential. Characters 3 & 4 are the state abbreviation for Congressional candidates | ||
| Cand_Office | Candidate office | Text | office abbreviation | 1 character | H=House, S=Senate, P=President | h |
| Cand_Office_St | Candidate office state | Character | Postal abbreviation for state | 2 characters | VA | |
| Cand_Office_Dist | Candidate office district | Number | District number for House candidates | 2 digits | 01 | |
| Cand_Party_Affiliation | Candidate party affiliation | Character | Party abbreviation | 3 characters | Dem=Democrat Rep=Republican full list of party affiliations |
Non |
| Cand_Incumbent_Challenger_Open_Seat | Candidate incumbent challenger open seat | Character | Incumbent or challenger or open seat indicator | 10 characters | I=incumbent; C=challenger; O=open seat (where no incumbent sought reelection) | i |
| Total_Receipt | Total receipts | Currency | Sum of all receipt categories | 10,000.00 | ||
| Total_Disbursement | Total disbursement | Currency | Sum of all disbursement categories | 10,000.00 | ||
| Cash_On_Hand_COP | Cash on hand close of period | Currency | Ending cash balance on the most recent filing | 10,000.00 | ||
| Debt_Owed_By_Committee | Debt owed by committee | Currency | 10,000.00 | |||
| Coverage_End_Date | Coverage end date | Date |
MM/DD/YYYY | Ending date of the most recent report | 04/15/2018 | |
| Cand_Street_1 | Candidate street 1 | Text |
Street address | Provided by the candidate on a statement of candidacy | 1001 George Washington Hwy | |
| Cand_Street_2 | Candidate street 2 | Text | Generally suite number or other secondary address | Suite 100 | ||
| Cand_City | Candidate city | Text | City of mailing address | Note: mailing addresses are not necessarily within the district. Use Candidate office state and candidate office district to specify the location of a campaign | Alexandria | |
| Cand_State | Candidate state | Text | State of mailing address | VA | ||
| Cand_Zip | Candidate ZIP code | Number | ZIP code of mailing address | 5 digits | 22201 | |
| Individual_Itemized_Contribution | Individual itemized contribution | Currency | Sum of itemized contributions from individuals | Contributions must be itemized (i.e. listing specific information about the donor and the contribution) when the total given to the campaign from a single individual exceeds $200. | 10,000.00 | |
| Individual_Unitemized_Contribution | Individual unitemized contribution | Currency | Sum of unitemized contributions from individuals | Total given to the campaign where specific information about the donors is not required because they have not given more than $200 | 10,000.00 | |
| Individual_Contribution | Individual contribution | Currency | Total contributions from individuals | Sum of the previous two fields (i.e. ind_ite_con and ind_uni_con) | 10,000.00 | Other_Committee_Contribution | Other committee contribution | Currency | Contributions from other committees | Mostly contributions from PACs, also includes contributions from other candidates. These also must be itemized regardless of amount. | 10,000.00 |
| Party_Committee_Contribution | Party committee contribution | Currency | Contributions from party committees | These must be itemized regardless of amount | 10,000.00 | |
| Cand_Contribution | Candidate contribution | Currency | Contributions from the candidate | 10,000.00 | ||
| Total_Contribution | Total contribution | Currency | Total contributions | Sum of the previous 4 fields (i.e. ind_con, par_com_con, oth_com_con and can_con) | 10,000.00 | |
| Transfer_From_Other_Auth_Committee | Transfer from other authorized committee | Currency | Candidates may have more than one committee working for their election (including joint fundraising committees). Transfers from other authorized committees included here. | 10,000.00 | ||
| Cand_Loan | Candidate loan | Currency | Loans received from the candidate | 10,000.00 | ||
| Other_Loan | Other loan | Currency | Other loans | Often from banks, but must be made in the normal course of business including interest rates and collateral. Loans from individuals are treated as contributions. | 10,000.00 | |
| Total_Loan | Total loan | Currency | Sum of the previous 2 fields (i.e. can_loa and oth_loa) | 10,000.00 | ||
| Offsets_To_Operating_Expenditure | Offsets to operating expenditure | Currency | e.g. refund of deposit for phone bank, etc. | 10,000.00 | ||
| Offsets_To_Fundraising | Offsets to fundraising | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | 10,000.00 | ||
| Offsets_To_Leagal_Accounting | Offsets to legal accounting | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | 10,000.00 | ||
| Other_Receipts | Other receipts | Currency | E.g. interest on bank deposits, capital gains, etc. | 10,000.00 | ||
| Operating_Expenditure | Operating expenditure | Currency | Total of normal operating expenditures. These must also be itemized when payments to a specific vendor exceed $200. | 10,000.00 | ||
| Exempt_Legal_Accounting_Disbursement | Exempt legal accounting disbursement | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | 10,000.00 | ||
| Fundraising_Disbursement | Fundraising disbursement | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | 10,000.00 | ||
| Transfer_To_Other_Auth_Committee | Transfer to other authorized committee | Currency | Candidates may have more than one committee working for their election (including joint fundraising committees). Transfers to other authorized committees included here. | 10,000.00 | ||
| Cand_Loan_Repayment | Candidate loan repayment | Currency | Loan repayments to the candidate | 10,000.00 | ||
| Other_Loan_Repayment | Other loan repayment | Currency | Loan repayments to banks or others | 10,000.00 | ||
| Total_Loan_Repayment | Total loan repayment | Currency | Sum of the previous 2 fields (i.e. can_loa_rep and oth_loa_rep) | 10,000.00 | ||
| Individual_Refund | Individual refund | Currency | Contribution refunds made to individuals | 10,000.00 | ||
| Party_Committee_Refund | Party committee refund | Currency | Contribution refunds made to parties | 10,000.00 | ||
| Other_Committee_Refund | Other committee refund | Currency | Contribution refunds made to other committees | Mainly PACs or other candidates | 10,000.00 | |
| Total_Contribution_Refund | Total contribution refund | Currency | Sum of the previous 3 fields (i.e. ind_ref, par_com_ref and oth_com_ref) | 10,000.00 | ||
| Other_Disbursements | Other disbursement | Currency | e.g. donations to charity, contributions to state or local candidates, etc. | 10,000.00 | ||
| Net_Contribution | Net contribution | Currency | Sum of all contributions minus any contribution refunds | 10,000.00 | ||
| Net_Operating_Expenditure | Net operating expenditure | Currency | Sum of all operating expenditures minus any offsets to those expenditures | 10,000.00 | ||
| Cash_On_Hand_BOP | Cash on hand beginning of period | Currency | Cash balance for the campaign at the start of the two-year period | 10,000.00 | ||
| Debt_Owe_To_Committee | Debt owed to committee | Currency | 10,000.00 | |||
| Coverage_Start_Date | Coverage start date | Date |
MM/DD/YYYY | Beginning date for the first report during the two year period | 01/01/2017 |